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Comments
Has anyone come across this before? If so, how well does it protect?
I will always have this stuff added to my new cars in the future.
I also saw a 1999 MKIV Jetta (like mine, only stripped, 5-speed, and black) for $1225 on EBay (the bid's there now). Only thing is, the car has 101,000+ miles on it. Just a thought, I wouldn't go for this car anyway since it's a stick and I can't drive stick...
BTW, it's got about 175 000 kms.
a) in cold weather, idle control valve (I think that's what it's called...) can get stuck, thereby making the engine rev even if you remove your foot from the gas pedal.
b) fan belt blew off, leaving me stranded in -20 C weather for 3 hours whilst waiting for AAA. Fan belt was not that old.
c) while driving on the highway, the car would slip out of gear. Clutch cable/clutch had to be replaced recently.
d) Muffler/exhaust was completely rusted out. Had to be replaced.
e) Can't turn the heater/AC on because the fan makes a horrendous wailing sound.
Now, there are some things that I just plain do not like about the car. The cabin is ugly (nothing like the new Jettas) and there is a lot of wind noise that intrudes into the cabin. The handling on the car is also crap. Oh...and there's some rust that is slowly starting to get larger and larger.
I know there are more issues, but I can't recall them all at the moment (I try to NOT think about that money pit as much as possible). It's your money...but I'd say stay away from that car.
not sure where you could find out the info, somewhere on the web probably.
Thanks for your help.
Thanks for the magnet bra tip. It looks like it is more durable that the laminate. Right now, I have the laminate, but will keep it in mind next time. I will also keep the wax away from the edges.
Thanks
Wow!
Meade
Um, Justin, the Governor has nothing to do with a law like that. It's up to the legislature to create a law and for the gov to sign it into being. Regardless, CA has not had a cooling-off period in my 28 years of life. We've had plenty of liberals in office...Gov. Jerry "Moonbeam" Brown and Gov. Gray Davis spring to mind. Neither saw fit to nix a law that makes sense. If you return a car to a dealership it's now used and the dealership would take a bath trying to resell it. If someone's gonna blow 25k they should know beforehand whether or not they want the car.
But then again, I'm about as pro-business as a person can get. Customers get the rights a business bestows upon them IMO.
I do know of one dealership in San Diego that has a money back guarantee on its cars of 3 days or 500 miles. Of course those guys are the biggest nissan dealers around (they have like 4 or 5 stores here).
No VW dealer that I know of in San Diego allow for returns. Hell they don't fix cars, so why would they take them back?!
for the record, i DID NOT say that a liberal governor would be pro-consumer, or that a conservative governor would be pro-business. wouldn't matter anyway sometimes. look at MD. conservative governor, liberal legislature. opposite for VA.
IF i decided to get a rear sway bar for cheap, it would help with roll and dive, but NOT effect the actual luxurious feel of the car, right? in order to make the car ride "rough", i would need stiff low profile tires and sport springs, right? or wrong?
i would not mind making the car less rolly/divey, but i do not want the ride to suffer at all. i was thinking same tires, same springs, for straight roads, but just pop in a bar for curves and braking.
make sense, or do you have to go whole hog with bars, wheels, and springs? if that is case, forget it.
keep in mind, i am not a "modder" - do not want any appearance things, or any "sporty" ride - that is what a new used 2002 base Miata is for
How do you use italics, bold and underline features in you messages? OK, so I'm slow. Plse tell me.
Thanks
It's certainly not Miata rough...man, everytime you mention that car I ponder getting rid of mine and just kicking it with a 2000 miata for 12-13k. Even with the buzzy engine and lack of passenger space that's gotta be the most fun somebody can have for under 15k. BTW, do you know how much a supercharger runs for one? I read something in MT once about a simple SC add-in that made the car a freaking rocket for about 2k.
cards, just use standard html tags for <> interior text</> (put an "i" inside for italics, b for bold and u for underline) messing with text.
Oh, I'm the guy that doesn't have more than 200 miles on my new 2003 Tornado Red Jetta yet. I hope to sell my Camry this weekend. The Jetta is still in the garage, very nice and clean. That wont last long here. Someone earlier said, that Tornado Red, is get a "ticket" red. Does anyone have a court date to prove that?
Thanks
It's personal preference. I personally feel that the Jetta without a sway doesn't handle the way I demand a car perform. To each his own. Some people like lean and understeer. I like no lean and oversteer.
http://www.jacksonracing.com/pages/components.html
Get out your checkbook.
Basically (depending on sport package or whatnot) you have a 23mm front sway bar, and a 21mm rear sway bar. Regular jettas are something like 21mm front and 19mm rear, or very close to that. If you aren't changing your front sway bar, don't get a 28mm rear sway bar, you will have too much oversteer (for normal every day drivers).
On my GTI, I had a 22mm H&R front sway bar and a 25mm Neuspeed rear sway bar on the stiffest setting. This, IMO, was the perfect combination. It gave me a tad of oversteer, but in every day to day manuevering, it was perfectly neutra. It did also help that I had Bilstein sport shocks, H&R race springs, and a Neuspeed strut bar, but that just made the handling better and give me a rougher ride.
If you just add a rear sway bar, I'm also assuming you're talking about Neuspeed since those are the only GBs going on in the classifieds, then a 25mm is your best bet. It has three stiffness settings, and I honestly didn't notice a change in ride once I installed it, only it had virtually no body lean in the corners and the steering response was quicker.
As for the guy with only 200 miles on the Jetta.... wait a thousand miles or so, let all the parts break in properly, then go modifying the car. Enjoy it for what it is stock, then when you get bored add some cool stuff.
Hope this helps, if you want more clarification, you will easily be able to find it with a simple search in the G/J IV forum located at http://forums.vwvortex.com
- Anthony
I had a feeling that is what I should do. Drive it for a while and then add the sway bar so I will know the difference. Good idea. I'll wait.
When I do add it later, do I have to remove the VW stock, 21mm rear bar, before I install the 25mm by Neuspeed?
Thanks
Neuspeed makes the only on that you don't have to drill there rear beam to install, that's why I went with it.
Let me see if I can't find some pictures of when my car was on a lift....
It's the red thing below the beam that says neuspeed on it
Man I miss that car....
You have out done yourself. This is very impressing. You are a real carrrrrrr......nuttttt. Thanks for pulling out that photo to show us. Now, I have a better idea of where the bar goes. Man...am I impressed. Beautiful vivid colors, too. I just printed it out in color. I'll use it as a guide. Did you install the bar yourself? If so, how long did it take?
How did you attach the picture to you message? WOW!!! Being an old guy, small things still make me smile :-). What kind of exhaust system do have there?
You said that you missed that car. What happened to it?
I did all the installs on that car by myself other than the ECU upgrade and the tranny upgrade. The rear bar is really simple, and neuspeed gives good instructions. It took about 45 minutes to install while working under floor jacks in my garage.
The image went in with the html code <"img src=www.enteraddresshere.com">, but without the quotation marks.
That is a Milltek exhaust, I had one of the first ones and fitment was quite a problem, so I sent it back and went to back to my Thermal R&D exhaust.
As for what happened to the car, it was a few things. Times were changing for me, and it was vandalized this past summer when I went down to the beach. After that it was never the same, atleast in my eyes.
You can see some pictures about the car and read all the mods I had done to it, here: http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=418847 Nevermind, I just took a look and all those photos are down cause my FTP went down. It still has a full list of the mods though.
- Anthony
The Stage 3 turbo package for the 1.8T is $4000, but it gives the car something like 280 wheel hp. Worth it in some peoples' eyes. I can't get it though, cuz my car's automatic...
Beware of performance shops who may try to sell you cheap mods.
It might be a decent part, but beware anyway.
The bright red will be very alluring by police. I don't know what it is, but they seem to pick out a red car all the time when it's speeding.
Also, happy 10,000 posts!
Check them out at www.srsvw.com
I've got the 28mm Neuspeed on the medium setting and VW's stock sport suspension and sways for the front. But I like oversteer...makes me feel like I'm driving a rwd car.
Seriously, I am getting one by Memorial Weekend. The sooner the better, deal wise though.
If you wanna know anything about a Miata, try miata.net. They are great! Lots of performance stuff. More streamlined and focused that vwwortex since it is only regarding one car - the Miata. Everyone in the forums there is really patient with me, haha.
As for buying used...I'll gladly drop 12-14k for a 2000 Miata over forking over 20k+ for a 2003. The Miata's nearly indestructible, cheap to repair and among the more reliable cars on the planet. I know you're afraid of the 99/2000s, so grab a 2001 for 16k and save yourself some serious dough. The only bad parts: two passenger, noisey engine and there's a certain stigma to single, neat, thin guys who drive them if ya get my drift. Oh well, the Jetta has the same stigma.
and the "stigma" does not bother me at all. the only image i will never be able to stomach would be the Camaro/Mustang/Firebird image, or the dreaded "Type R" 1997 Civic DX image...:)
I hope you guys don't mind if I use you like Consumer Reports. Before I buy anything, that's my main resource. There are other sources as well.
I grew up in the muscle car era and since its demise there hadn't been too much talk about cars. At least not in my small world, anyway.
It is fun :-D and interesting to follow all the discussions. It's like a class room with a lot of participation, you guys know what you're talking about. I'm and information junkie. So, go at it!!!
Happy Motoring everyone!
do not bring up Consumer Reports!
haha, just messing with you. but people (myself included) have heated opinions about CR in these boards...